Some people would say hiring your surrogate as a nanny was a bad idea, and honestly, it probably was. But after I kicked Vivienne out and started the divorce process when Aria was an infant, I was in over my head—exhausted, not sleeping, and hanging on by a thread. Holly still lived across the hall at the time and made it her mission to help me out. She became a lifeline as I tried to figure out how to keep an infant alive and thriving.
Eventually, that lifeline became a job offer once I was stable enough to think straight. I didn’t regret a thing. There were no illusions about their dynamic. Vivienne would forever be Aria’s egg donor, and she flourished in my single-parent routine—thankfully. Holly loved her fiercely like an aunt, and there was no denying the bond they had.
Her stay with us in Wilde Bay was potentially temporary, as she figured out whether she wanted to continue in school or pursue her next adventure. Originally, she wasn’t moving with us, which was why her presence was the last big surprise.
“It’s safe now!” Holly shouted from the other side of the door. I opened the door to find her sitting on the ground with Aria in her lap. Her face was buried in Holly’s neck as she cried. Holly offered an apologetic smile. “We have big feelings.”
“That’s okay,” I said. Saying goodbye to Holly had been the most difficult part of moving. Most of Aria’s memories includedher in some way, shape, or form. I sat down on the couch behind them and put a hand on my daughter’s head. Wet, blue eyes peeked up at me. “It’s not permanent, okay? We’re still figuring out the details of it, but she’ll be here at least for a while.”
“I want her to stay forever,” she mumbled.
“Oh, my sweet little hellion.” Holly squeezed her tighter. “I wish I could stay forever.”
“We have a bigger house now,” Aria said.Oh, no.I knew exactly where this was going. “And Daddy said I could get tons and tons of chickens.”
I held my breath. Maybe the crisis was averted.
“Did he now?”
“I did not,” I interjected. “I said we could talk about a few chickens.”
“And I want a rooster,” she continued with a giggle.
“Four chickens,” I countered. “We can talk about four chickens.”
“And a rooster.”
“No, we can talk about four chickens.”
“Four chickens and Holly stays forever?” Aria replied. When Holly decided to move out and move on with her life, my daughter was going to have a hell of a time adjusting. I hated knowing that eventually we’d break her heart a little bit.
“Little love,” I began quietly, “Holly has her own life too. One day, she has to get out there and do all the things she wants to do.”
“And that doesn’t mean I won’t call,” Holly chimed in.
“Can we FaceTime?” she asked. “Like we do when we go on vacation without you?”
“Absolutely! I would love that.”
“Fine,” Aria grumped. Fine was better than nothing. Leaning forward, I kissed her forehead.
“And,” Holly continued, “I’ll be here for the rest of the year. I’m doing a few online classes, so we’ll both be students together.”
“Do you have to do math too?”
“Yup.”
“Math sucks,” Aria whispered, making me chuckle.If we made it to the math sucks portion of the conversation, we’d be okay.“Daddy loves math.”
“No, Daddy’s just good at math,” I corrected. The look she gave me screamed doubt and sass, but I ignored it. “Would you like to see the rest of the house?”
“Where is Holly going to live?”
“There’s an apartment over the garage,” I said. “There’s a door upstairs that she can use, but she also has her own outside door.”
“Can I see your apartment?” Aria leaned back and pinned Holly with the most expectant stare on the planet. The girl had a way about her, though Holly was unfazed by the sass.
“Of course!” Holly matched her enthusiasm. I sat back on the couch, giving them the room to get up. Aria’s hand was instantly in Holly’s, clinging to her.
